Creative Commons

Yesterday I posted a homily about being a great Catholic. Yesterday Saint Louis, and all of America, lost one of the greatest; Stanley Frank Musial. Stan was a man, no he was The Man, who used the gifts that God gave him and never was willing to accept the praise that he received. Everyone who knew him says he was a humble man, a considerate man, and a man of faith. Cardinal Timothy Dolan tells us that one of Stan’s greatest thrill in his amazing life was being able to meet his fellow Pole, Pope John Paul II.

I never had the privilege of meeting The Man but I know people who did and the reaction is always the same. He was a great human being. He carried a box of autographed memorabilia in the trunk of his car which he handed out freely to anyone he met.

I was blessed to see him play on television and in person. He was my hero. In fact, when I was a kid I used to play baseball in the back yard with my neighbor, Freddy Vincent. He was always Kenny Boyer and I was Stan. I even batted left-handed, and I can’t do anything left-handed. Of course, I wasn’t very good batting right-handed either. You might wonder why I always got to be Stan. That’s easy. It was my yard and my ball. Freddy’s yard wasn’t big enough to play even two-player baseball.

Our city, and much of Major League Baseball will be in mourning for quite a while. We share a great loss. But Jesus’ baseball team has just gotten a huge boost. The only question is whether he’ll play first base or in the outfield. One thing is for sure, his beloved wife of 70+ years, Lillian Musial, will be in the stands cheering him on.

RIP, Stan the Man.

Here’s an interesting footnote. Last night the Saint Louis Blues opened their shortened season at home. There were a lot of baseball people at the game, in town for the Cardinals winter fan event. Musial wore number 6. The Blues beat the Red Wings 6-0. Coincidence? What do you think?